Chapter 4

"I'm growing old over here. Let's go!"

Khushi rolled her eyes.

"I'm almost done, Nikki!" she yelled back from the bathroom. She quickly put on her eye-liner before her friend could barge into the bathroom and demand they leave. She wouldn't put it past her either. If there was one thing she had learnt about her new friend over the last few weeks, it was that patience was not one of her virtues. 

"Let's go." Khushi said as she exited the bathroom and slung her brown bag over her shoulder.

"Finally!" with an audible sigh of relief, Nikki followed her out of her dorm room.

They had had to make a quick pit stop to Khushi's dorm room as she had forgotten one of her books for their next class.

"So, what have you decided? Are you coming for the party tonight?"

Khushi bit her lip. Nikki had been badgering her about this for a few days now. As was the tradition at Universities, one of the main fraternities was hosting a 'Back to School' party that night and what was more, there was an open invitation extended to all freshers. 

From the snippets of excited conversation she had overheard, these parties were a initiation into the college world. There would be an abundance of booze and horny people; girls using this chance to dress their sexy best while guys taking this as an open invitation to hit on anything that moved. 

Basically, a night where bad decisions were just waiting to happen.

Despite what people thought of her, she wasn't naïve. From her experience in high school, she knew what happened at most of these parties. She had attended one of them with Arnav and while he had seemed to enjoy it himself, mingling and socialising with everyone, she has sulked in a corner the whole time. As soon as the clock had hit 11, she had made a hasty exit from there, feeding some lame excuse to Arnav.

In short, she had been a party pooper. 

"What's stopping you?" Nikki asked as she saw Khushi on the verge of saying no.

"I don't know. This isn't really my scene."

"Meeting people isn't really your scene?" Nikki raised an eyebrow at her. "Or is it partying?"

"A little bit of both, I guess. The parties that I attended in high school...I didn't like them very much."

"Because they were high school parties. These are college parties. Completely different."

"How different can it be?" Khushi challenged. "Alcohol and hookups are a running theme for both."

"You sound like a grandmother." Nikki laughed. "You don't have to drink or hookup with anyone, unless you want to . That's not the point of this. It's just a place where you relax, meet some fun people and have a good time."

Khushi paused as she thought about it. She did feel like a hundred years old, sometimes, specially in comparison to people her age. Maybe it was because she was a naturally cautious person. She always thought through or analysed a situation a million times before stepping into it. Arnav had told her a few times that she needed to let go and while she understood what he meant, it was hard for her to give up that rigid self control she had on herself or to be less conscious.

"Maybe I can give it a go..." she said hesitantly. 

"Yes!" Nikki punched her fist in the air. At Khushi's answering giggle, her expression softened as she said, "Look, I know this is new and I swear if you're uncomfortable, we can leave right away. I promise I'll be by your side the whole time but at least let's give it a go?"

Khushi was touched by her friend's words. She nodded and made up her mind right then and there that she would try her best to not overthink this.

Just for tonight.

"I don't know what to wear though." she suddenly remembered that her wardrobe didn't exactly scream party time. More like convent girl.

"Don't worry. We are the same size and I have heaps of clothes that would fit you perfectly."

Khushi hesitated. Nikki and her fashion sense were wildly different. While Khushi preferred to stick with the more conventional style of sweaters, leggings and boots, Nikki was a little more adventurous in her dressing. She was petite and more importantly confident, and was often seen sporting colourful tops and flashy jewellery.

"What are you'll planning to get all decked up for?"

They spun around to see Arnav walking a few steps behind them. He wasn't alone.

A tall girl wearing a fitted black top and blue jeans was standing next to him, with a curious smile on her face. She was gorgeous, Khushi thought. A dimpled smile and long, jet-black her which she swept over shoulders as she adjusted her handbag strap.

"Hi," she said when Khushi continued to ogle her, "I'm Lavanya."

"Uh, hi." Khushi and Nikki said together while looking at Arnav for further cues.

Arnav quickly did the introductions. Lavanya was studying the same course as him and happened to be in a few of his classes. From the way Arnav introduced her, Khushi got the distinct vibe that he was interested in her. She was not just his new 'friend'.

"So what's with all the dress planning?" Arnav asked again.

"We're planning on going to the frat party tonight. You know, the one they're holding in Block C." Nikki said.

"You'll are going for that?" Arnav seemed surprised though his attention was largely focused on Khushi. Knowing her the way he did, he was a little taken aback that she was planning on attending any party, forget a frat one. They were known for all the things that Khushi absolutely despised.

"I thought I'd give it a shot." Khushi shrugged as she guessed the reason behind his surprise, "What sort of fresher would I be if I didn't drink my liver out?"

"A sensible one." Lavanya laughed. "A couple of my dorm friends told me about that party. I was planning on checking it out." She turned to Arnav. "Do you want to join in?"

"I wasn't planning on it..." he trailed off. "But why not?"

"Oh fun!" Nikki said. "See, Khushi, now you don't need to be nervous at all. Even Arnav will be there."

Khushi wanted to kick her at that comment. For anyone who didn't know her and Arnav's dynamic, that statement could be very misleading

She saw Lavanya raise a curious eye brow at her while Arnav simply laughed. "Are you nervous?" he asked her, as he slung his arm around her shoulder. He knew, better than anyone, the kinds of ridiculous things she stressed about.

"No, I'm not. " Khushi mumbled as her cheeks flushed red, "Don't listen to her."

Nikki immediately back pedalled when she saw her friend's glare.

"No, I just meant that it will be fun, all of us going in a group. At least, we'll know each other if no one else."

"True," Lavanya chipped in. "What time is it at, again?"

"7." Glancing at her watch, she turned to Khushi. "We better go. We're getting late for class."

Khushi nodded and then gently ducked from under Arnav's arm.

"See you guys there." she said and then waving at them both, she quickly sped along with Nikki to their lecture hall. As she turned a corner, she glanced behind to see Lavanya laughing at something Arnav had said. She touched his arm as she threw her head back and laughed and Khushi felt a weird and inexplicable sensation in her tummy at the sight. 

***

"Nikki, I'm not sure about this." Khushi said as she looked at herself in the mirror. Against her better judgement, she had allowed Nikki to pick her outfit for tonight and true to her word, Nikki had chosen something that would make her unrecognizable.

She was sporting a slinky black dress that reached up to mid-thigh and exposed way more skin than she was comfortable with. Nikki had paired that with  strappy black heels and while, Khushi thought the shoes were pretty, she did feel that in this case, it highlighted her bare legs.

Considering Nikki's satisfied smile as she twirled her friend around inspecting her look, this is exactly what she was aiming for.

"You look gorgeous." Nikki said as she sat her down and pulled out her make-up pouch.

"This dress is quite short." Khushi mumbled as she tried to pull the hem of the dress down.

"It's not short,' Nikki slapped her hands away and at Khushi's glare, she said, "It looks great on you, Khush. Don't be so conscious. If it looked bad, I would've told you."

Khushi sighed but stayed silent as Nikki started fussing around with her make-up. She was pretty sure this counted as peer pressure but she couldn't deny the fact that she did look good, even if she would never admit it out loud. Guess it wouldn't kill her to glam up for one night.

Less than an hour later, they were outside the frat house where the party was going on in full swing. The front lawn leading up to the house was teeming with people, all drinking, talking and having a good time. After spotting a few people making out in the corner, Khushi turned to Nikki and raised her eye brow as if to say "What now?"

"Are Arnav and Lavanya here yet?" Nikki asked her.

"I haven't called him yet."

"Let me call him. We might as well all go in together. I doubt we can find anyone once we're in."

Khushi nodded as Nikki dialled Arnav's number. After a quick chat, Nikki kept her phone inside her clutch. "He's already here. He said he'll meet us out front."

True to his word, they spotted Arnav come out of the house, laughing as he passed by a guy near the front door who greeted him with a typical bro handshake.

"Hi ladies," Arnav smiled as he neared them. He looked very handsome, Khushi thought, in his simple black shirt and jeans. There were some people who didn't need to put in a lot of effort into they way they looked; they could just show up and own the place and Arnav was definitely one of them. She felt a dip in her stomach as he finally looked at her and did a double-take.

"Wow! Look at you, Khush!"

He seemed genuinely stunned and Khushi quickly pulled the hem of her dress, conscious of her attire.

"Doesn't she look great?" Nikki said, looking like a proud mother hen.

"She does," Arnav's eyes softened as he saw how uncomfortable Khushi was under his scrutiny. "Seriously, Khush. You look great. I think I will have to fend a lot of guys away tonight."

"That depends. There could be a cute guy in there that our Khushi wouldn't mind getting to know a little better," Nikki smirked as she nudged Khushi who was blushing now.

Arnav looked a little surprised but recovered quickly. "Ofcourse. Just let me know if you need me to step in." he smiled at Khushi.

And with those words, they made their way into the party.